How to report and write a tough but fair profile

Question: We too often profile people somewhat superficially - we interview people who like the subject, people who don't, have the big interview, chronicle the subject's newsworthiness, and we're outta there. Please send tips on how to report and write a tough but fair profile, something that goes past personality and explains the values and motivations that make a person tick?
- John Burr, assistant managing editor, The Florida Times-Union (jburr@jacksonville.com)

Bobbi Bowman, ASNE Diversity Director (bowmanb@asne.org):
I would suggest that the New York Times' Portraits of Grief are a great starting point for all profiles. They are 150 words long. Some make you laugh. Some make you cry. All of them are a must read.
Please go to some bars and ask people there whom they want to read about.
Please include minorities and women.

Kate Long, writing coach, The Charleston Gazette (kate_long@hotmail.com):
Handy-Dandy Guide to Planning a Profile: exerpted and adapted from The Art and Craft of Feature Writing by Bill Blundell.

"Stress action and reaction.... Without such reminders, the reporter may be seduced by an engaging and garrulous subject and produce an overly talkative piece in which little really happens." - B.Blundell

Directions: Brainstorm. Some questions will be more valuable than others. Consider them all. List as much as you know. This process will tell you where you need to report. List possible sources as you go along: personal, professional, friends, enemies, past, present. When you are finished, look at your pile of ideas. Choose details and directions to emphasize, subordinate, eliminate.

1. Gereral profile or microcosm? Did I choose this person because he/she is different or because he/she is typical of a larger group? (If microcosm, what is the larger group?) Elements of both?
2. History:
   • How has the past shaped the nature of my subject? Childhood? Young adulthood? Education? Mentors? Tragedies and triumphs? Obstacles? Special privileges? ! What experiences were most formative?
   • Specific incidents/developments that could be described in each category?
   • List my subject's obstacles and pluses in life. How has he or she dealt with each? Incidents?
   • Money: How has it affected my subject's history?
3. Qualities: Think about both general and microcosm questions for your subject.
   • a.: General profile: If subject was chosen because he/she is different, what are his or her "different" qualities - personal, professional, other?
     • What actions, behaviors, or incidents reveal these qualities?
     • How has each quality affected my subject's fortunes and life?
   • b. Microcosm: If you chose subject because he/she is typical, of what is he or she typical? What qualities does he/she possess that make her or him similar to others?
     • What actions, behaviors,! or incidents reveal those qualities?
     • What "typical" life experiences has my subject had that make him or her representative of many people? How can I make the connection with others in that group?
     • How is my typical subject not typical of that group? What details might show this?
4. Values and Standards:
   • What are my subject's strongest beliefs? How do these beliefs shape her/his actions as he/she strives toward goals? Include lifestyle and spiritual goals.
   • How are my subject's beliefs different/ similar to those held by others in the subject's position or group? In what ways and to what extent?
   • Where did he or she acquire those standards, values, and goals? Think broadly. Mentors, influences, obstacles, successes.
5. Impact:
   • How does my subject affect people around her/ him or other members of his/her class? Positive or negativ! e impacts? Both? Incidents that show this
   • Who is affected by my subject? Directly? Indirectly? Think beyond your first reaction.
   • How is he/she BEING AFFECTED by circumstances, those around him or her, friendly or unfriendly contemporaries? Positive or negative impact?
6. Countermoves:
   • How are others reponding to your subject and his/her attitudes? Show this in specific incidents if possible.
   • How does he/she repond to circumstances? To other relevant people? Members of his or her class? Again, show in action if possible.
7. Future:
   • What does he or she think his/her future looks like?
   • What do others think it looks like?
   • What would he or she like to be doing in twenty years?

This worksheet should help you think about your subject in depth. Now, look at all your ideas and decide where you need to do more reporting. Decide what you want to emphasize, subordinate, eliminat.

Nancy Weil, Assistant News Editor IDG News Service, Boston (Nancy_Weil@idg.com):
I'd underscore the importance of research and checking public records as an early part of the reporting process. Public records can reveal all sorts of interesting tidbits, so I'd look at anything I could get my hands on, including divorce records and land records. I've also found it leads to interesting topic areas and questions to just pop the person's name into Google (or whatever search engine you prefer) and see what comes up. Of course, you need to make sure you've found the right person!
Talk up support staff -- custodians, receptionists, assistants. They see things and hear things and if you are friendly, they often will become chatty enough to reveal an interesting anecdote or to let a detail slip that you can pursue.
I always try to talk to the subject's spouse and parents or someone else who was close to the person as they were growing up. I spent almost as much time interviewing the wife of a university chancellor years ago as I did interviewing him and over the course of the interviews she became much less guarded with me than anyone else I interviewed. She dropped all kinds of good tidbits into my lap, including a thorough dissection of her husband's foibles, what worries he expressed during their late-night discussions and that she finds him incredibly sexy. The "sexy quote" wound up being the talk of the town for weeks (and at the first trustees meeting after the profile ran).
I also always try to interview subjects in a variety of places and settings, but especially at their homes, and more than once. I have found it helpful to try to join people for breakfast at home to get a sense of what they're like first thing in the morning, and then again in the evening after dinner as the day is winding down. The standard approach of shadowing them for a full day is always useful, too.

Joe Hight, Managing Editor, The Oklahoman (JHight@Oklahoman.com):
In the reporting process, it's important that reporters determine the following:

• The person's personality/character (the differences that make this person special).
• The beliefs (religious, personal, political).
• The environment (surroundings, friends, family, hobbies, etc.).
• The likes and dislikes.
• Reporters also should be reminded that their subjects often have a paper and/or data trail, too. They must do ample research before beginning the interview process.

Steve Buttry, Writing Coach/National Correspondent, Omaha World-Herald (Steve.Buttry@owh.com):
Four things will make a huge difference in a profile:

• multiple interviews in multiple settings;
• report as though you're not going to get access to the profile character;
• write as you report;
• find out what the Wal-Mart sack is and don't leave without it.

I'll elaborate in order:

1. Multiple interviews in multiple settings. If you do have access to the profile character, you should talk to her early, because she's going to hear about it anyway when you talk to other people. But your most important interviews with the character come late, after you know the character well and know where your story is going. Multiple interviews also give you a chance to get more thoughtful answers to the questions you asked the first time. You ask the tough question in the first interview, and you get the superficial, knee-jeerk answer. Ask the same question two weeks later and she's been thinking about it for two weeks (and you know enough to ask it a bit better) and you get the real answer. Multiple settings also give you great insight, better questions and better answers. Get the character into a variety of settings, including behind the wheel, and you see different sides of the person.
2. Report as though you won't have access. Especially in a profile, other people are much more important than the character himself. If you're writing about the topic of your character's expertise, then he's the expert and you don't have to interview many others. But I'm not the expert on me and you're not the expert on you. False modesty, inflated egos, faulty memories and different perspectives make your character an unreliable source about himself. You need to talk to friends, enemies, colleagues, family, bosses, employees. You need to research public and private written and electronic records.
3. Write as you report. It's especially valuable in a profile. Writing as you report helps focus the reporting that remains. It helps you ask better questions as you go along.
4. Get the Wal-Mart sack. I once was profiling a murderer and had an interview with his wife. It was a great interview, and I established rapport and asked great questions and she gave great answers. But I quickly realized what I needed from her wasn't the interview itself. In the chair next to her, she had a plastic Wal-Mart sack, the big kind that you haul a couple big toys home in at Christmas time. In it were journals she had written in her grief over the murder of their daughter (he was acquitted), records of their land transactions, their finances, virtually every piece of paper this woman had dealing with her life with this man. This Wal-Mart sack was her file cabinet. I talked her into letting me take the sack back to my hotel. And I spent three hours and lots of money at Kinko's that night. In addition to providing valuable details such as exact dates and dollar amounts, the Wal-Mart sack provided my lede. It came from a letter she had written to her dead daughter in one of the journals, saying she knew he would kill again (he did, and I was writing the profile to run after his sentencing).

By all means, encourage your profile reporters to read Eric Nalder's handout, "Loosening Lips: The Art of the Interview"

Beverly Kees, Senior Projects Manager, The Freedom Forum (beverlykees@hotmail.com):
This recalls a lesson learned during a training session with a personnel guy (they were still personnel in those days) on how to interview job candidates. "The best indication of future performance is past performance. Take the candidate step by step through his accomplishment.

• Where did the idea come from?
• How was it developed?
• What were the obstacles and how did the candidate get around them?
• Did he ever think he would fail?
• Did he get discouraged?
• Did he have some vision or some saying from Mom that kept him going?
• Did he have support or was he out there alone?
• How did he handle setbacks?
• Was he creative or plodding on his way to success?

The how reveals more than the what.

Richard D. Hendrickson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Communications, John Carroll University, University Heights, OH (rhendri@mediaone.net):
The key to a good profile is a good interview. Here are some tips for interviewing:

1. Do a search. Know something about the person first. (Ask a friend, the boss, some subordinates, check the clips, check the World Wide Web and electronic databases and, in extreme cases such as investigative reporting, do a full public records search.
2. Pick a prime time. Schedule the interview (and the photo) when your subject is doing the thing that makes him or her newsworthy. This is important to getting color, the kind of detail that makes the reader feel right there in the room with you watching the subject at work or play.
3. Prepare. Before you go, jot down some questions that pop into your mind, things you are curious about. If something about the person puzzles you, it also will puzzle your readers. Don't be afraid to ask tough questions; you'll get more interesting answers. You can always back off if you strike a sore spot. Your object is to get inside the person's shell, to find out what makes him jump.
4. Preliminaries. Start with the basics, past history, age, hometown, parents, family, college, jobs, property owned etc.; check spellings.
5. Be observant. Look around you at the things that surround the person for clues to his or her personality. A picture, a plaque, a poster, an item on the table - asking about something may elicit an anecdote that provides the reader with an insight into the individual. It may open our eyes to some area of the person's life experience that you were not aware of. Also, jot down notes on his or her personal appearance, such as hight, color of eyes and hair, clothing. Don't just write that the person was sitting at a typewriter, tell me what color and brand of typewriter it is, whether it looks battered, etc. Paint a picture of the room and the individual.
6. Search for success. Ask about career or whatever it is that draws you to the person. Why is he doing this? What is the most interesting part, the best part, the most fun, the most difficult. What obstacles has he or she overcome? Who influenced him, who taught him over the years and what is his philosophy about the thing he does. Look for a success story. Ask what advice he or she would give to others starting along the same path. Ask about specific job-related issues.
7. Dig for dreams. Does the person have unusual goals? What is the motivation for them? What are his or her dreams and ambitions. What would happen if he or she
   • (a) won the lottery,
   • (b) could start over in the same or another career or
   • (c) could change the world Who is his or her hero and why?
8. Look for insights. How does the person relax? What books or magazines has he or she read recently and why are they interesting. Is there a particular story or character that he or she relates to?

Ed Williams, Business Editor (EWilliams@News-Record.com); Lex Alexander, asst. features editor/CAR team leader (LAlexander@News-Record.com) News & Record Greensboro, N.C.:
Here's a guide we developed in-house a few years ago for profiles.
(Sources: Life Team Values Critique, ``Writing for Story,'' Jon Franklin; ``The John McPhee Reader,'' John McPhee; ``How I Wrote the Story,'' Providence Journal; ``On Writing Well,'' William Zinsser; ``Intimate Journalism,'' Walt Harrington, ``Profile Tips,'' Susan Ager.)

• Outline/structure: Long before writing begins, the writer has created enough of an outline to focus the writer's thinking. From it, the writer can clearly state in a few words what the profile is about, and can identify such elements as impact, complication, resolution, motivation, and transformation ... and where they will fall in the story. From this outline comes the thesis statement and from that thesis statement will come the nut graph(s).
• Focus: The writer has found a profile subject who exhibits a very dominant characteristic or pattern of behavior that may be central to the subject's conflict, motivation, or impact. That ``defining'' characteristic, behavior, or trait is used to carry the reader through the profile. It is echoed throughout.
• Nut graph(s): The writer gives the reader a concise explanation of why the subject is worthy of their attention ... and why at this time. That graph or graphs come high in the story. How high up? Before the jump.
• Context/perspective: Is it clear how my subject is different than other subjects who may be similarly situated? Is it clear also how my subject is the same as others similarly situated? Have I captured my subject against a backdrop or environment that is appropriate and relevant to the meaning of this story?
• Impact: The writer finds a profile subject having a significant effect or influence on an individual, a group or a community. The writer includes enough context/perspective to show why that impact is significant. The writer shows (not tells) the reader this impact and helps the reader understand how others are affected.
• Complication/Resolution: The central character faces a problem or obstacle basic to most humans and it's particularly significant for this particular character. The writer lays out the complication and traces what steps the character takes to resolve the problem.
• Action: The writer's focus is on what the character does, how the character acts, not neccessarily on what the character says, or on what the character thinks. The writer shows the reader an event and how the character responds to the event. Through this action, the writer can show his character's motivation and emotions ... and can evoke emotion from the reader. The writer is constantly assessing this action against this question: what does it mean?
• Motivation: The writer explores why the subject acts, feels, or thinks as he/she does. Who or what is an influence? What physiological or psychological need is the subject looking to meet? What is at work that satisfies the subject ... and why? Looks at: what does he/she value? The writer asks and answers: how will I portray how my subject understands himself/herself.
• Change/transformation/insight: The writer is sensitive to those flashpoints just before or just after the character resolves a conflict ... flashpoints that suggest some growth, some learning, some change, some new insight on the part of the character.
• Timing: There is a reason the subject is profiled at a specific point in time. Perhaps the writer has caught the subject at some watershed in his/her life. Or the subject is at a crossroads in their personal or professional life and is facing a difficult choice or decision. Or there is some significant conflict or tension the subject is struggling to resolve.
• Authenticity/Accessibility: The writer's behind-the-scenes access allows the profile subject to be caught in everyday situations and relationships with others that reveal much about the subject's defining character, impact and/or motivation. This same access provides the writer with a wider range of sources as they interact with the subject. Anecdotes/vignettes/dialogue provide the reader with an unfettered view of the subject's action, thoughts, feelings, vulnerabilities.
• Foreshadowing: The writer is sensitive to planting key information, clues and concepts at the beginning of the piece ... elements that are relevant to the character's behavior/motivation/complication ... which the writer will return to later in the piece.
• Forecast: The profile not only looks back but peers into the future. The writer explores what lies ahead for the subject, what possibilities exist.